Valent U.S.A. enters agreement with Scotts

Valent U.S.A. Corporation (Valent) announced an agreement with The Scotts Company LLC (Scotts), which includes a collaborative supply agreement on key active ingredients for the outdoor consumer lawn and garden market in the United States. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

As part of the arrangement, Scotts will acquire certain assets of Valent subsidiary (dba) the Green Light Company, including trademarks for the Green Light brand family: Amaze® Grass & Weed Preventer2, Super Bloom®, Rose Defense™, Conquest® Insecticide Concentrate and Yard Safe® Insect Repellent, among others.

The existing Green Light products, pricing, programs, promotions and processes are expected to transition from Valent to Scotts over the next few months and remain unchanged for the remainder of the 2012 program year.

"As a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited, Valent has an innovative, growing portfolio of active ingredients and proprietary formulations which are appropriate for many market segments. In the case of the U.S. consumer lawn and garden business, Scotts offers excellent market access and the ideal business opportunity for cooperation," said Andy Lee, Valent chief operating officer. "This divestiture allows us to sell our proprietary products directly to Scotts and continue to access the important consumer lawn and garden business, while also allowing us to focus on our rapidly growing core business: providing innovative technology to professional and agricultural markets. It also signals our willingness to enter strategic partnership agreements with companies recognizing the value of our best-in-class products."